SEC: Takeover Bid of Fortune 500 Company was a Sham

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Melville ten Cate, a U.S. citizen residing abroad, with fraud stemming from his allegedly phony offer to purchase Textron – a large U.S.-listed aircraft, defense, and industrial company. The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, alleges that on November 9, 2020, ten Cate and Xcalibur Aerospace, Ltd., a now-defunct private company ten Cate controlled, placed an advertisement in The New York Times announcing a proposed purchase of all existing stock of Textron for $60.50 a share, a 56 percent premium over the stock’s previous closing price. As alleged, the advertisement led to a spike in Textron trading and a subsequent trading halt.